Meronk finishes tied for first, Gibson third in stroke play

DEAL, KENT(June 18, 2013) – The ETSU men’s golf team had two of its golfers advance to match play at the 118th Amateur Championship on Tuesday afternoon.

Rising sophomore Adrian Meronk (Wroclaw, Poland) and rising junior Scott Gibson (Southerness, Scotland) both finished in the top-3 of the 288-player field to move out of stroke play and into match play, which begins Wednesday at Royal Cinque Ports.

On Monday, only four golfers broke par as the opening round saw harsh conditions with wind gusts at over 30 miles per hour and rains diminishing earlier in the day, but the weather improved Tuesday and both Meronk and Gibson took advantage of the settings.

Meronk, who carded a 1-over-par 72 in the first round from Royal Cinque Ports, went from being tied for 41st to finishing tied for first with Craig Hinton (Oxfordshire) at 3-under-par 140 in the two-round stroke play event. Meronk, a 2013 Atlantic Sun All-Conference selection, recorded four birdies on the front nine and picked up two more on the back to register a 4-under 68 from the Prince’s on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Gibson also charged back in the final round as he was sitting tied for 67th following his 2-over-par 73 on Monday; however, the Scottish standout was nearly flawless on Tuesday en route to making the giant leap up the leaderboard. Gibson generated two birdies on the front nine – and after carding a bogey on the 464-yard, par-4 No. 10 – the Buccaneer golfer ended the round with an eagle on the par-5, 505-yard 15th and a birdie on the par-4, 373-yard 16th to tie for third with Graeme Robertson (Glenbervie) at 2-under 141.

Meronk tees off on Wednesday as he takes on Denmark’s Thomas Sorensen in the first round of match play. Gibson will follow an hour and 20 minutes later as he squares off with Sweden’s Pontus Gad. Sorensen is currently a sophomore for the Arkansas Razorbacks, while Gad is a senior standout for TCU.

About the Amateur Championship

The 118th Amateur Championship takes place from June 17-22 at Royal Cinque Ports and Prince's. The field comprises 288 players from 29 countries. The stroke play stage of The Amateur Championship is played over the first two days of competition at both courses before the field is cut to 64 and ties. The match play stage is played over the final four days at Royal Cinque Ports. The field also consisted of six in the top-20 of the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

The winner of The Amateur Championship earns a spot in this year’s Open Championship at Muirfield and next year’s US Open at Pinehurst, North Carolina. Traditionally, an invitation is also extended to play in the following year’s Masters Tournament at Augusta.

Former Major Champions and Ryder Cup team members including Jack Nicklaus, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington, Henrik Stenson, Louis Oosthuizen and the reigning Open Champion, Ernie Els, have all played in the Amateur Championship.

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